Additive Manufacturing for the Railway

The railway industry benefits significantly from additive manufacturing by enabling the production of specialised, durable parts on demand, ensuring continuous operation with minimal downtime. With AM, replacement parts, components for locomotives, and even entire sections of track infrastructure can be manufactured quickly and efficiently.

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Benefits

Customisable Design Flexibility: Easily produce intricate and specific designs for rail components not possible with traditional methods. ...
Reduced Lead Times: Manufacture prototypes and production parts faster, maintaining the reliability of rail operations. ...
Durable and Lightweight Solutions: Additive manufacturing offers parts that withstand heavy use while minimising weight, enhancing fuel efficiency.
On-Demand Part Replacement: Quickly create replacement parts to minimise train downtime and avoid long procurement cycles. ...
Cost and Waste Reduction: Minimise material waste, particularly valuable in long-lasting railway equipment. ...
Lower Environmental Impact: Reduce carbon footprint through localised and on-demand production.

3D Printing for the Railway Industry

Transforming Rail with Additive Manufacturing

The railway industry faces unique challenges—aging fleets, supply chain delays, rising costs, and the need for sustainable solutions. Additive Manufacturing is helping rail operators and manufacturers solve these issues with faster production, cost savings, and innovative design possibilities.

By adopting 3D printing in the railway sector, companies can move away from long lead times and traditional stockpiling of parts, toward a digital inventory and on-demand production model.

Applications of 3D Printing in Rail

Spare Parts and Obsolete Components

Lightweight and Optimised Components

Interior Customisation

Tooling and Prototyping

Sustainability in Rail

Close-up of an old, heavy metal mechanical component with a square base and a rounded cover stamped ‘165.’ The device has visible bolts, springs and a funnel-shaped plastic piece on top, suggesting a lubricator or valve mechanism used in rail or industrial equipment.

Real World 3D Printing Success Story

3D Printing in the Railway Industry

Companies in the railway industry have started to take advantage of 3D printing at an accelerating rate.

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Kimya PEKK-SC: the solution adopted by ALSTOM

ALSTOM Italy had a production bottleneck. It lacked a PEEK cotter pin to complete the production of a rotating electric train engine with a permanent magnet. The non-availability of a plastic raw material caused lengthier delivery lead times, disrupting the train delivery schedule of ALSTOM for its customer.

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A Professional 3D Printer in an Industrial Setting: Pro2 Used for Transportation Engineering

A common belief about 3D printing is that helpful industrial 3D printers are too expensive to purchase and maintain. However, this is not true. Raise3D demonstrates this point in a recent interview with one of our clients, a 3D printer farm called 2050.AT. 2050.AT is part of a division of the Transmashholding/Lokotech Group of Companies, the largest Russian manufacturer of railway equipment.

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